IMPRESS project attracts major new industrial partner
International speciality chemicals company, Johnson Matthey plc, has become the latest partner to join ESA's IMPRESS Integrated Project - a pan-European project to investigate the materials processing, structure and properties of new higher-performance intermetallic alloys.
The 5-year IMPRESS Project, which is managed by ESA, brings together the academic and industrial expertise of 42 research groups and companies and involves 160 leading experts from 15 countries.
A unique component of IMPRESS is the experimentation in space, such as on board sounding rockets and later onboard the International Space Station. These benchmark experiments are expected to provide critical information about the material properties of a special class of alloys, known as intermetallics. The scientific results of the IMPRESS Project will have industrial applications in the development of next-generation catalytic powders and turbine blades.
Johnson Matthey has a 200-year history of developing technology for various catalytic applications, and the company has maintained a world leadership in the field by adapting constantly to rapidly changing customer needs. As a partner in IMPRESS, Johnson Matthey has taken on the challenge of producing, developing and testing novel nickel-based powders for hydrogenation catalysis. Johnson Matthey's scientific, technical and computer modelling experts in the UK, Germany and US are working closely with all project partners to transfer the new knowledge into breakthrough commercial catalysts.
Dr David Jarvis, ESA's IMPRESS Project Manager, said: "The project team are delighted to have Johnson Matthey onboard, since their know-how and commercial experience in the field of catalysis is second to none. We are expecting the company to add even more industrial leadership to the project over the next 3 years."
The IMPRESS Project is a joint venture between the European Commission and ESA, within the European Union Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).
